1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a microscopy system and method. In particular, the invention relates to a surgical microscopy system of the binocular type and a microscopy method for inspecting a retina of an eye.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,154 there is known a stereo-microscopy system comprising an objective lens for transforming an object-side imaging beam emerging from an object plane of the objective lens into an image-side imaging beam. A left zoom system and a right zoom system are disposed within the image-side imaging beam. The left zoom system picks up a left beam portion of the image-side imaging beam and supplies that portion with an adjustable magnification to a left ocular of the microscopy system. Similarly, the right zoom system picks up a right beam portion of the image-side imaging beam and supplies that portion with an adjustable magnification to a right ocular of the microscopy system. Two semitransparent mirrors are disposed in each of the left and right beam portions in-between of the respective zoom system and ocular. A first of the two mirrors is used to supply light of the respective beam portion to a camera. Images detected by the camera are supplied to a controller for further processing. The controller supplies the processed images to a display, and light generated by the display is superimposed with the respective beam portion by the second semitransparent mirror. When looking into the oculars, the user may perceive a direct image of the object and a superimposed representation generated by the displays.
The two semitransparent mirrors disposed in the beam paths tend to increase the volume and length of the microscopy system.
From EP 1 191 381 A2 there is known a stereo-microscopy system which is configured to be used for surgery at the human eye and to generate a stereo-microscopic image of a retina of the eye. For this purpose, an opthalmoscopic lens is inserted in a beam path between the objective lens of the microscopy system and the eye under surgery. The opthalmoscopic lens generates an intermediate image of the retina of the eye in the object plane of the objective lens. The intermediate image is an inverted image, and the microscopy system comprises optics for interchanging the stereo channels of the microscopy system and for inverting each of the stereo-images supplied to oculars of the microscopy system.
Such optics also tends to increase the volume and length of the microscopy system.